A Mer of her word
by Ziggard
Summary: Elenwen is the first Emissary of the Aldmeri Dominion in Skyrim. She is an excellent diplomat, but with Estormo missing, his young fiancée whining on her doorstep and the Thalmor being subjected to an alarming amount of attacks, she only really experiences the responsibility of her function and the disfunctionality of the other two Emissaries.
1. An unusual request

_Prologue_

Thick drops of cold rain were pouring down onto the dry, cold soil of Haafingar. It streamed down from the many hills, formed puddles in between the worn out stones of the road to the Thalmor embassy. With Evening Star on the doorstep, this precipitation was bound to change into snow within a couple of hours.

A one horse carriage had just made its way to the entrance of the immense building. The carriage driver nonchalantly tugged on the reins and the horse halted, fuming at the mouth from the exertion of an almost uninterrupted uphill journey from Solitude. The carriage came to a stop, and the rattling of wooden wheels on stone died away.

The driver turned around. "That'll be 10 septims."

His passenger, a tall woman in finely woven hooded green robes, cautiously lowered herself from the back of the carriage and handed the Nord man a handful of septims before making her way to the stone steps of the entrance.

The driver counted them quickly and scoffed. "I'm sure a Mer of your position could have spared a little more."

She ever so slowly turned her head around to look the man in the face, but didn't utter a snide remark. Instead, she just shook her head and faced the two Thalmor soldiers guarding the entrance to the Embassy.

* * *

 _Chapter one- An unusual request_

It had been 19 days since anyone had heard from Estormo.

Elenwen massaged her forehead with her index and middle fingers. Normally she would have declared a state of emergency long ago when a captain of the Thalmor force would have gone missing, but she knew he was sufficiently experienced to handle most situations, no matter how young he might be.

Nevertheless she had felt slightly alarmed when he had volunteered to aid Ancano in- what was it again? She couldn't recall what the advisor at the College of Winterhold had asked for in a short, somewhat mysterious letter, only that whatever he desired was believed to be located somewhere deep inside the bowels of Labyrinthian..

Estormo set out for the ruins on the 20th of Frostfall, the same day they had received Ancano's letter. Elenwen admired the young captain for his discipline, but this had been a tad overzealous. He had never taken the time to discuss his all of his plans with the three Emissaries and he had left in a hurry, with only one soldier by his side. He even postponed his planned sabbatical back to the Summerset Isles for it.

Elenwen had received a letter from him when he had reached Morthal, a letter that was sent on the 4th of Sun's Dusk. Morthal wasn't far from the ruins of Labyrinthian, and even if Estormo had needed a week to travel there and back to the capital of Hjaalmarch, he should have returned to the Embassy by now. The more Elenwen thought about it, the more an uneasy feeling started clawing inside her chest. He should have returned to the Embassy by now.

Her sorrowful pondering thoughts were disturbed by Brelas who knocked on the opened door, waiting on the doorstep for Elenwen's approval before entering the room.

"Emissary? We have a visitor who demands to see you."

Elenwen sighed and started rubbing at her temples again. "I would prefer to not be disturbed, Brelas. I have… quite a lot to keep myself occupied at the moment."

The Bosmeri female nervously folded her hands and her sharp features were briefly distorted by nervous fear. "Well… The visitor insisted it was urgent and wanted to wait in the great hall. She's Altmeri… And judging by her clothes she's quite wealthy."

Elenwen had already risen from her seat when she heard that the visitor was of the same race, but the mention of wealth made her place towards the door. She slowed down when passing by Brelas.

"Did she state her name?"

Brelas shook her head, lowering her glance. "We inquired, but she refused to give her name. She allowed us to search her person and her belongings, but no name was provided. My sincere apologies, First Emissary Elenwen, but I-"

Elenwen sped her stride up again, not interested in Brelas' attempt to make up for her mistake. Although, she couldn't blame the Bosmeri servant for allowing the stranger to enter, given that the soldiers at the front door had forsaken their duty, not Brelas, at least, not directly.

Brelas, whimpering with anxious anticipation, followed closely as Elenwen went downstairs. The Emissary was annoyed by her behaviour, but she figured that this physiological torment, the sheer anticipation of gruesome punishment would be sufficient to teach her a lesson. Any future mistakes on her behalf would not go unpunished. Elenwen sincerely hoped it would not have to come to that.

An Altmeri woman had been waiting impatiently in the great hall, even though she never lost her composure.

"State your name," Elenwen spoke as soon as she entered the large room.

"Ruthhwen." The stranger's voice was hoarse, letting the agitation her appearance was hiding, seep through. "I am Estormo's fiancée."

Elenwen felt as if an Ice Wraith clawed through her insides upon hearing the stranger's name, and even more so upon hearing the latter. She pursed her lips and managed a wry smile. "I'm aware of that. He had informed me of that. Yes." No, he hadn't. Estormo had informed her of his plans present an Amulet of Mara to his dear Ruthhwen, but not of his actual proposal.

"Good. I look forward to meeting him again. I came from Solitude, you see. We are supposed to travel to the Island together for our marriage." Ruthhwen smiled lightly, yet her young face didn't show genuine happiness.

"Well, my dear, you see…" Elenwen started, "We haven't heard from him. Not in almost three weeks. He wanted to complete one more mission before going on sabbatical, but we haven't heard from him since he left Morthal."

Ruthhwen breathed in forcefully during the last sentence. Her haughty facade started to crumble, her left eyebrow twitched and her hands were shaking. "Morthal? What business does he have in that godsforsaken town?"

Elenwen gave her an apologetic nod. "He wanted to complete a mission for our advisor at the College of Winterhold. That's all I can provide. We are as much in the dark as you, milady. I'm afraid we cannot aid you in this."

Ruthhwen opened her mouth, closed it again, trying to speak up but failing, like a fish on the land gasping for air. When she finally spoke up again, her voice cracked multiple times. "But we are getting married."

Elenwen wanted to encourage her by telling that Estormo was a mer of his word and that he would never abandon his fiancée, but she didn't. "I know, Ruthhwen."

At that moment, Ruthhwen broke down crying. She sunk to her knees, wrapped her hands around herself and weeped as if Nirn would cease to be that very day.

The young Altmeri woman needed twenty minutes to recompose herself, after that there were no traces of her previous emotional breakdown, only a keen eye could spot the slight red discoloration of her nose and her puffy eyes.

Elenwen had stood next to the scene as it had unfolded, and she hadn't moved. She didn't need to, because as soon as Ruthhwen had collapsed she had been consoled by one of the two guards in the hall. Elenwen wasn't even sure whether she'd have been able to do the same. She silently vowed to promote the man. Otherwise she would have had to lie about what she thought happened to Estormo.

She normally did not mind lying, not at all, but since she held the ferocious young Estormo dear to her heart, and since his fiancée seemed honest (and, more importantly, she seemed to be wealthy) she wouldn't want to risk lying about how she thought Estormo would return soon, for that could lead to some serious complications. Elenwen was very influential in Skyrim, but her power couldn't hold a candle to the power of the many wealthy families back home. After all, she had started off as an interrogator here, and she could be degraded to being one again if she made any major mistakes. The second or third emissary would happily take her place. The sheer thought of it made her shudder.

"I demand an expedition to Labyrinthian." Ruthhwen's voice was clear and void of emotion once again.

 _And there you have it._ Elenwen sighed. "I understand your concern, but we are by no means equipped right now to-"

"I'll join you," Ruthhwen interjected, "There must be enough skilled Thalmor agents here to accompany the expedition."

"Ma'am," Elenwen sternly spoke, "This is the Thalmor Embassy, not an army base. We can't simply dispatch our justiciars and captains here on an expedition. They are stationed here for confidential reasons. Besides, not enough of us are present on the Embassy at the moment anyway. I'm afraid we cannot aid you. You should try the Thalmor headquarters in Solitude."

Ruthhwen lowered her head, yet she didn't seem defeated, contrarily, she seemed empowered. Elenwen started to like her less and less. "Dear Emissary, you know just as well as I do that they have less authority than you. They recruit justiciars and mages, they aren't even qualified to command them!"

"Neither am I", Elenwen retorted. "Or rather, such trivialities are beneath my level of operating. For that matter, you should talk to commander Ondolemar, who is currently stationed in Markarth."

Ruthhwen straightened her back. "If I correspond with him, or rather, if I make him correspond with you about this matter, would it change your mind?"

Elenwen was growing tired of this confrontation, so she obliged. "That would work. Although I have to warn you, he's a lot less keen on laymen interfering and trying to dictate his decisions for him." She emphasized the last few words with underlying anger, but this completely went over Ruthhwen's head, at least, she made it seem that way.

Ruthhwen gave the Emissary a haughty nod. "You'll hear from me. Come the expedition, I'll give notice."

Elenwen waited until the young elf had left the room, then she stepped back and lowered herself onto one of the wooden benches in the Great Hall. She leaned her head back against the wall, closed her eyes and let out a guttural groan.

"That kid has absolutely no idea of the consequences and risks of a mission like that," she mumbled to herself. "How can someone be raised to be so naive, and then live in a country like Skyrim? And how in Oblivion did Estormo end up with her?"

She felt eyes piercing her personal space, and she quickly sat up. Brelas had watched the whole scene from the shadows in a corner of the room, with wide-eyed fear.

"Brelas, you're dismissed for now. I have some issues to consider," Elenwen said. The wood elf on the other side of the room nodded quickly and disappeared into the shadows.

The emissary slouched back on the uncomfortable bench once again. She surely hoped that Ondolemar would indeed decline Ruthhwen's idiotic request, as was to be assumed. He was a mer of his word. Then again, so was Estormo, and look what that had brought her.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Thank you for reading! Just a heads up: this story is going to contain numerous OCs since the Thalmor force doesn't have a lot of named members in Skyrim. Also, Estormo needed a fiancée so that's why I created Ruthhwen, the whiny naive rich kid. Estormo has poor taste in women lol. The OC's will be plot devices, but the whole story isn't going to revolve around them, don't worry! If you enjoyed this chapter, please do leave a review!_


	2. Word from the College

_Chapter two- Word from the College_

Elenwen rejoiced in ten days of well-deserved rest. Then, two letters arrived, delivered the by same postal carriage.

Both letters caused Elenwen an enormous amount of distress, one not necessarily more than the other.

The first letter was from the College of Winterhold. The reasoning in it was unclear, and it took Elenwen multiple reads before she understood that the writer of the letter, a secretary of some sorts, tried to euphemistically explain that the Thalmor advisor at the College, Ancano, had been killed. The circumstances were never specified and there were multiple other fallacies about the letter's reasoning, but that never really got through to Elenwen.

Ancano had been killed.

He was the one who had dispatched Estormo.

Elenwen closed her eyes and inhaled deeply and slowly, trying to ignore the wave of vague panic that seemed to clamp itself to her throat. An expedition to Labyrinthian didn't seem like such a strange idea now, by the Eight, she would even consider joining them. She felt responsible for the young Thalmor captain, even though she had absolutely no reason to feel that way.

Trying to make the slight trembling of her hands subside, she opened the second letter. It was a very disgruntled letter from Ondolemar. He complained about receiving a somewhat threatening letter from Ruthhwen demanding an expedition from Solitude to the Labyrinthian. It also stated that he was making his way to Solitude to join the expedition.

Elenwen didn't know what Ruthhwen had threatened with, but it had sufficed to convince -or more probably, blackmail- Ondolemar, which told enough of a story

So there was bound to be an expedition. She couldn't decide what opinion to form about it, since she wanted to help find Estormo more than anything, but part of her was afraid for the state they might find him in. For all they know he could have renegaded, or he could be gravely injured, dead even. Knowing Estormo, he would probably prefer death over renegacy. Still, that would be hardly ideal.

She had to start planning the expedition now. Right now, while there were very little soldiers, justiciars and mages in the Embassy. She couldn't leave the Embassy unprotected, so at least a dozen soldiers had to remain to guard the huge building. She also had to leave at least one Emissary at the Embassy, since someone had to be in charge.

Technically, the three Emissaries were ranked in terms of importance. Elenwen was the most important Emissary, after that came the Second Emissary, Malreith, and the third Emissary, Rulindil. So logically speaking, Malreith had to remain at the Embassy while Rulindil and she joined the expedition.

Nobody liked Rulindil. Nobody even remotely got along with Rulindil. Elenwen had been interrogator together, a long time ago. She got promoted first because she was really good at interrogations, and he followed some time later. In that time, she could still get along with him adequately, on a professional level. But once she got promoted to first Emissary, Rulindil didn't take it well. He still had hopes to become second Emissary, but then Malreith got promoted before him and Rulindil ended in third place.

Rulindil hated everything about it. He hated Elenwen, he hated Malreith, and he hated the government back on the Island for promoting two female mer first instead of him. Partially, Elenwen couldn't blame him for his embittered attitude, but mostly, she wished he would stop behaving like an angry toddler.

Then there was Malreith, the second Emissary. Malreith was barely proficient enough with magic to be considered a mage, but back when she lived on the Island, she had been an excellent apothecary, which could be useful. She'd know how to properly treat Estormo, should they find him in a condition that no mage could fix with their healing hands.

But of course there were downsides to taking her on the expedition instead of Rulindil. First of all, it wasn't according to protocol. If circumstances allowed it, there should be an emissary of the highest possible rank present at the Embassy at all times. Elenwen could of course circumnavigate that by explaining that they needed a healer on the expedition… should the government of the Dominion even ask about it. Her actions were documented, but never supervised. By Auri-el, she could conjure a sweetroll shaped Daedra and have it join her on the expedition and still face no consequences.

No, the real problem was Malreith's behaviour. She was professional and calm, as long as she was, well, sober. That was the catch. If there was alto wine to be found in any proximity of the Embassy, Malreith would be first in line to 'taste' it. She was a real lush, and she would behave that way, too. Elenwen remembered multiple accounts where she had to dispatch Malreith to complete an unnecessary task, just to stop her from trying to philander with any well-bred mer she came across. It was plain embarrassing. Yet still, it was better than having Rulindil stomp around in silent anger.

Elenwen contently nodded to herself. She would take Malreith, Ondolemar, three soldiers and most importantly, no wine, that was bound to work.

Now she only had to inform the other two Emissaries of her decision. Or rather, Brelas would ask them to come down. Elenwen didn't feel like strolling through the entire Embassy just to find those two idiots.

Brelas did as requested, and shortly thereafter the other two Emissaries appeared, Malreith with her shrewd face and Rulindil with a face that _oh so slightly_ showed just how dissatisfied he was. Little did he know his dissatisfaction was about to get worse.

"Alright," Elenwen started, "You are both aware of the fact that Estormo has been missing for almost a month now."

Malreith nodded somewhat mockingly, Rulindil grumbled inaudibly and started stroking his beard, something he would do whenever he was agitated. He was often agitated. His beard was always smoothed out.

"Together with commander Ondolemar, I have decided to set up an expedition to Labyrinthian." She paused briefly, to mentally prepare herself for Rulindil's imminent protest. "I will head out myself, along with Ondolemar, once he arrives here, Malreith and three soldiers."

No reaction. Malreith just nodded again with that slightly disdaining face and Rulindil simply shrugged. No protest from him, no enlightened reaction from her.

Elenwen realized why. Labyrinthian was a very dangerous place, even the adventurous Khajiiti caravans would avoid passing through it's ruins as much as possible. And that was just the exterior. She could understand why Rulindil didn't mind being left out of an operation that ran throught the alleged final resting place of a Dragon Priest, and she could understand why Malreith didn't jump with joy.

This expedition possessed the possibility to backfire really, really hard.

Ondolemar arrived less than a half a day after Elenwen's briefing of the other two Emissaries. He was obviously extremely disgruntled, which was a rarity.

Elenwen respected him for his responsible function, even though he technically ranked lower than she did, but she professionally admired him for his overall attitude. He wasn't overly positive, yet he had his way of approaching things that struck her as extremely balanced, accepting things the way they were, confident he could change matters for the better.

Now, however, there was nothing balanced about his attitude. As soon as the front doors were opened for him, he stepped past the guards and straight to the Great Hall, where Elenwen was waiting to greet him.

He was almost fuming with ill-concealed anger.

"Do you know what that- that _brat_ threatened me with?" he spat, struggling to maintain composure and to not raise his voice.

"Glad to see you too, Ondolemar," Elenwen said. "And I presume you are going to tell me what the young lady threatened you with?"

"She literally said she had corresponded with her family back in Alinor, that they were influential enough to make anyone up here lose their position, be it commander or Emissary." There was not only anger in Ondolemar's eyes, but also fear.

That would be the only explanation for his odd behaviour, Elenwen thought. The poor mer was scared out of his mind at the very thought of losing his prestigious function. He had worked tremendously hard to earn it, and to lose it by some spoilt kid from the Island would be plain unfair.

"I understand," Elenwen said, "and your anger is completely just. However, we'll have to endure it. We can report this to the Dominion's government later if we find Estormo alive, but for now we have to obey."

Ondolemar exhaled deeply, then nodded. "Of how many will this expedition consist?"

"Six mer, the both of us included," Elenwen said, "The others are Malreith and three soldiers."

Ondolemar cracked an ever so slight grin. "Somebody is not very fond of your third Emissary."

"If you find someone who is, please notify me," Elenwen said. The two mer shared a hearty chuckle.

Elenwen dispatched a horseback courier to Solitude, who returned that same afternoon with Ruthhwen directly behind him, also on horseback. She had exchanged her blue gown for standard Elven armor, her dark hair tied back underneath the helmet.

Elenwen sighed at the sight. She was bound to endure another confrontation in which she had to prevent Ruthhwen from joining the expedition. So as the two mer approached, she just straightened her back, plastered on her fake diplomatic smile and greeted them.

"Glad to see you made the right decision," Ruthhwen said haughtily upon entering the room. "When are we heading out?"

Elenwen had to remain silent for a couple of seconds to prevent herself from snapping at Estormo's fiancée. "Well you see, dear… we cannot take you with us. Our protocol states that all of our expeditions consist solely of trained members of the Thalmor. Labyrinthian is extremely dangerous. We don't want you to get yourself killed out there." _Oh yes we do._

Ruthhwen almost pouted. The kid was in her sixties ***** and she didn't even behave like half her age. It was appalling how she had seemingly lost all ability to be polite and behave like the wealthy young lady she was.

Just as Elenwen expected, the other started a conceited lecture about how her parents were influential and how everyone would lose their function. Elenwen saw Ondolemar rub in his eyes to conceal his teeth grinding in the corner of her eyes.

Then Malreith spoke up. "You can join us up until Morthal, if you so wish. But you should bring a sword, since, well, Hjaalmarch is filled to the brim with frost bite spiders and vampires roaming about. By Oblivion, bring a bow too, since we might come across a dragon. But that is no problem to you, I take it?"

Elenwen gave an ever so slightly haughty smile as she looked at Ruthhwen. Malreith's sarcasm had completely gone over the girl's head. She was of normal length for an Altmeri woman, but she surely lacked the lean muscle that every Altmer capable of wielding a one handed weapon possessed.

Now that she came to think of it, even most female Thalmor agents, including herself, wouldn't be able to do that. Why, not only females. She couldn't really picture Rulindil swinging a mace either, though Ondolemar seemed like an exception to the rule, he could probably wield a small longsword. After quite a lot of practice, that is. No wonder the great scolars of their race had spent so much time researching the arcane arts, that didn't require a muscular stature.

Elenwen snapped out of her thoughts when Ruthhwen started to talk in that horrendous high-pitched voice of hers.

"Dragons? I knew they had been sighted before, but it can't possibly be that grave."

Elenwen suppressed a grin. This was good. With a bit of manipulation they could keep Ruthhwen from joining. She probably hadn't travelled outside of Solitude's walls much since the dragon rising.

"Haven't you heard how Helgen was destroyed?", Ondolemar chimed in. He stepped toward the shorter Altmeri woman, towering over her dramatically. "The whole village was massacred. And people assume we have something to do with them, with the dragons? This is beyond our strength. It is too dangerous for you to join, Ruthhwen."

Ruthhwen looked like she was on the verge of crying. Again. Then she nodded.

Elenwen subconsciously mirrored that movement. The young Altmeri woman claimed to love her fiancé, but she apparently didn't love him enough to best a rough landscape and fierce animals.

No matter how contradictory it sounded, Elenwen would have admired her courage and devotion if she had insisted to join anyway, instead of behaving cowardly and impressionable. Then again, she was really naive, so maybe this indicated that she had come to her senses a little and realized that she was not in shape to join an expedition to a location as dangerous as Labyrinthian. She hoped it was the latter.

Rutthwen left the Embassy just as Azura draped the murk of dusk over the land. The rain had subsided since a couple of days, and thick, puffy flakes of snow started to gently fall down onto the ground. Elenwen watched the young elf leave. The solitary flame of the lantern she carried on her horse was visible for a long time.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 *** Explanation: In this fanficition, I will go by the rule of 300 Altmer years roughly equaling 100 human years (which would be exceptionally old in the setting of Skyrim). I've read a lot on the subject and there is little clear lore information on the ages of the races, only Queen Barenziah living for over 400 years, as UESP states, and she assassined at very old age. She was Dunmer however, so that doesn't help much. I just go by the rule of thumb 'Altmer age divided by three is human equivalent', so Ruthhwen would be in her 20's.**

 **Hope you like this story so far, cheers!**


	3. Hjaalmarch

_Chapter 3- Hjaalmarch_

Thalmor agents do not need to prepare to move out. They are always prepared.

Thus, the expedition moved out as soon as dawn broke free from the horizon. They travelled on horseback, which was a lot safer than moving by foot or, Auri-El forbid, on a carriage.

Elenwen didn't understand why anyone in their right mind could travel by carriage in times like these. All it took was one skilled mage wielding a firestorm spell, or a dragon breathing one deadly word over them to eradicate a carriage full of some of the best and most influential Thalmor that were active at the moment.

And even though Ondolemar always ordered groups of Thalmor Justiciars to move by foot, they would attract less attention on horseback. Justiciars never moved in groups larger than four Mer, half of which soldiers.

Elenwen would have preferred not having to get on one of Skyrim's filthy horses, but it was faster than traveling by foot. Estormo's letter had arrived 14 days after he left. Given that he had travelled by foot, and taken into account that the letter had needed a little less than half of 14 days to arrive at the Embassy, they could arrive in Morthal within two days. They would mainly travel downhill, so the horses' stamina wouldn't be put to the test a lot, meaning they could travel even faster.

She wasn't planning on stopping for the night. They would arrive in Morthal at dusk on the second day of travel. The Thalmor agents were trained enough to go one miserable night without sleep, and a few hours could mean life or death to Estormo.

After the expedition had passed Solitude, they still hadn't conversed much. Then Ondolemar, who had driven at the very back of the group, accelerated the horse's pace slightly to ride alongside Elenwen, who lead the group.

She looked up from the road. There was a concerned, bitter look on his face.

"I do not intend to sound inconsiderate, Elenwen, but… Do you believe we are going to find Estormo alive?"

"Don't you?", she retorted.

"You are avoiding the question. I'll be so free to interpret that as a negative?" Ondolemar sighed and shook his head.

Elenwen didn't want to admit that she had given up on hope. She didn't even want to believe she had given up on hope. She didn't even _give up_ on hope to find the young captain alive!

"No, it is perfectly possible that we retrieve him in good shape!" Elenwen said, her agitation showing. "Why the pessimism? The others don't question his wellbeing either."

Ondolemar raised one eyebrow and gestured backwards with his head.

Elenwen looked over her shoulder. Malreith had attached three large knapsacks to the side of her horse and the three soldiers carried a few satchels as well.

"What do you think she brought?", he said in a low voice, not awaiting the answer to this semi-rhetorical question. "She's prepared for the worst. She brought ingredients to heal him if necessary, but she also brought extremely potent poisons for, well, when we find him in such a bad shape that we can't risk trying to get him out of-"

"Be quiet," Elenwen ordered with averted eyes. Ondolemar cast a furious glance in her direction, then slowed his pace to ride next to Malreith.

Elenwen heard him talking to her with tempered agitation and she shook her head. This was nothing like how he normally behaved. It was as if he wanted to complete this expedition as soon as he could achieve, with as little effort as possible.

She understood, she really did. He had been impolitely ordered to join a dangerous journey, and he had to travel all the way from Markarth to join it. Thereby, he feared being dismissed from his function, and he probably thought that was bound to happen either way, whether they found Estormo alive, or…

She suddenly imagined his young face distorted by the iron claws of an agonizing death. How he could have been attacked by a wild animal on the exterior of Labyrinthian, his sides cleft open by the claws of a frost troll, or how the Dragon Priest himself could have sent a lightning bolt of concentrated magicka through his spine, causing him to fall to the ground and have his world slowly darken and fade before his tormented eyes, all while trying and failing to suppress intense muscle spasms…

 _Don't think about it. Don't. Think. About. It._

It was no use. The more she tried to distance herself from the thoughts, the more they seemed to persevere. Estormo died a thousand horrible deaths before her mind's eye, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She travelled. That was all she did, all the way to Morthal. Even though it wasn't an extremely long journey on horseback, Elenwen felt like it was the longest journey she had ever endured. Even the first journey from the Isles to this godsforsaken country felt like less than a fraction of this one. At least there were sights to see on that occasion. This land was nothing but a huge empty tundra with a couple of mountains thrown in.

Nothing compared to the simple beauty and elegance of her motherland, the moderate climate with warm summers and mild winters, the colourful flora, and less creatures actively trying to kill her.

They arrived in Morthal late in the afternoon of the 4th of Evening Star. The sun had started to set, and if one were to pause and stare at the sky, they could see the outline of Masser emerge in the darkening sky.

Nobody of the group paused to look at the sky. They dismounted their horses, shaking their legs, bending their knees and groaning with the rigor that came with a long day on horseback.

"Damned in the name of Auri-El and the Souls before Him," Malreith grunted as she tied the reins of her horse to the wooden beam outside of Morthal's inn. It earned her a very disgruntled look from Elenwen. "Please refrain from such profanities, Malreith."

Malreith acted like she hadn't heard the stern words of the First Emissary, picked up her knapsacks and made her way to the inn.

Elenwen looked around if the others were joining her. Of course, Ondolemar was right behind her. She had earned his respect, probably because she let him rant against her during the entire journey from Solitude about how unfair Ruthhwen's approach was. The soldiers needed some time to detach the satchels from their horses. She waited until they had finished and then entered the inn behind them.

The Moorside Inn corresponded in size with the rest of Morthal: it was a relatively small building. The Redguard innkeeper definitely wasn't keen on a bunch of Thalmor agents entering his inn.

"What brings you here?", he cautiously asked, eyeing the three Altmer in hooded robes and the three soldiers in full armor.

"We are Justiciars dispatched from Solitude to patrol in the Whiterun hold. We're merely passing through Morthal," Ondolemar lied, "We'll be gone come dawn."

The innkeeper slowly nodded, seemingly unconvinced. "Yeah right, just like other dude in your kind of robes that got here with two soldiers. Black robed dude leaves the next day, the soldiers stay for a week and only then leave."

Elenwen widened her eyes and was silent for a moment. Then she managed to speak: "Are you sure the soldiers left later?"

The man nodded. "Completely. Yeah _,_ I remember because they only paid for three nights." He smirked. "Business hasn't been good lately so I let them have the benefit of doubt. Shoulda never done that."

Elenwen paid him enough gold to rent all rooms for more than a week, and that washed the look from his face and replaced it with a cunning smile.

"I get it. I've never seen any of you, and you never stayed the night here. Correct?"

"Correct," Elenwen said, not mirroring his expression, then leaned in and continued on a lower tone: "And if you ever tell anyone that you did see us, I'll personally have you thrown in the deepest, most skeever-infested dungeons of the Embassy. Do you comprehend, or do I need to repeat myself?"

The cunning in the man's face subsided and was replaced with a mixture between fear and bitter hate. "Fine. Never seen you. You knife ears truly are all the same."

Elenwen deliberately ignored his last remark, sat down at one of the many tables in the inn and let the fatigue wash over her. Maybe, just maybe she could get a couple of moments of peace and quiet to ponder why in Oblivion Estormo would continue his journey to Labyrinthian alone.

She saw Malreith make her way to the counter and she didn't even have to hear the following conversation to know that the Second Emissary was hunting for alto wine. She let her. They had come a long way today. That, and trying to interfere with Malreith trying to obtain her precious beverage was bound to draw attention. They should avoid attention at any cost.

She did not like how Malreith and Ondolemar chose to sit down at the far end of the long table she sat at, however. The last thing she wanted to overhear now was the two of them conversing.

They had not been subtle. Elenwen had heard them talking on the way here, and the interlocution had been far from strictly professional. Both Malreith and Ondolemar had the ability to act strictly professional, void of any emotion, but it was on moments like these, when they loosened up, that Elenwen almost despised them, and more importantly, envied them.

The Second Emissary and the Commander had met at one of her receptions at the Embassy, but they never had talked long enough to stop addressing each other by their function instead of their name. That had changed during the journey here.

Yes, Elenwen envied them. The life of an Emissary is lonely and filled to the brim with responsibility and repercussions of past decisions, and apparently Malreith found someone to befriend through all of that. Elenwen made sure nobody ever was aware of it, but she yearned for company, for someone to talk to on moments like these.

She shouldn't have focused so much on her career back when she had only just lived through her first century. She should have found a well-bred Altmeri man and settled down with him, and limit her activities within the Dominion to the government's building in Alinor. She should have never come here. Applying to become interrogator in Skyrim equaled applying for an unmarried life, void of any offspring.

Now that she came to think about it, Malreith had lived like this, too, as well as Rulindil. By the gates of Oblivion, even Ondolemar lived like this for decades. And yet, they never seemed struck by the relative reclusion of their occupation as much as Elenwen herself.

That, or they were really good at masking their emotions. Not unlike herself. Maybe they felt exactly the same.

Elenwen's melancholic thoughts were disrupted by Malreith laughing in an obnoxiously high pitch. She normally talked in a relatively calm manner, and hearing this from her was rather… unsettling.

This was more than just a laugh distorted with intoxication, though. Elenwen looked at the two mer from the corner of her eyes, without turning her head.

"No, please do tell me," Malreith cooed, grabbing Ondolemar's wrists over the table. He was visibly a little uncomfortable with this but didn't pull away.

"What did you order him to do?"

Ondolemar smiled a wicked smile that almost rendered his face unrecognizable in the sparse lighting.

"I sent him to Eastmarch to kill heretics," he said, obviously pretty content with himself.

Malreith laughed her weird high pitched laugh again and took a swig out of a bottle of alto wine. Ondolemar did the same.

"To Eastmarch! How in Oblivion did you even conceive that plan?" Malreith asked on a semi-whisper tone, reflecting Ondolemar's grin. Her otherwise flawless pronunciation was slurred, and her normally olive-coloured cheeks were flushed with a bright red colour, and her nose had reddened, too.

Elenwen shook her head at the sight. She endured the sickening exchange of almost flirtatious remarks for a while, then she stood up. The scraping of her chair against the wooden for made the two mer look up.

"I'm going to sleep," Elenwen said, "And I suggest you do, too. We're moving out in the grey moments before dawn, on foot, with one horse to carry all those knapsacks you brought, Malreith."

The smile disappeared from the Second Emissary's face. "Alright. Here's to hoping we won't need them." She raised her very empty bottle of alto wine sarcastically.

Elenwen almost grunted with loathing and turned around to enter her room.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **Anyone else who thinks Elenwen is in her 50's in human years, so actually 150? I always pictured her as some kind of jaded, unmarried workaholic without children, too old to still conceive any, so that's why she's so fond of Estormo, who _kind of_ feels like a son to her, but not quite.**

 **Anyway, hope you like this chapter! More soon!**


	4. Linger

**Heads up: this chapter contains rather graphic desciptions of gore/death!**

* * *

Chapter 4- Linger

She didn't sleep well that night. She kept involuntarily imagining all the ways in which Estormo could have been injured or killed. Even though she didn't want to, she started to prepare herself for the fact that the latter was a very plausible option. Plausible, if not very likely.

She was really fond of the young captain. He did not and could not possibly fill the painful, infinite void that the absence of offspring left within her life, but he helped. Sometimes, it felt a bit as if he was her own son. It would only be for a fleeing moment, but at least it brightened her day.

Elenwen ordered one of the soldiers that guarded the inn's hall to wake the others just before the break of dawn. Thank Auri-El, Ondolemar and Malreith were found in separate rooms. She would have been absolutely clueless, had they been found in the same bed. Then all the professional relationships needed to fulfill this expedition adequately would have been rendered useless, if not destroyed.

Suddenly, taking Rulindil on an expedition didn't seem like a bad idea, at all.

The other agents managed to get ready in a few moments. Elenwen impatiently waited by the inn's entrance until they emerged from the building, one by one. The horse was prepared, and they went on their way.

Elenwen had started by walking at the front of the group, but she slowed her pace to walk beside her lovingly despised younger colleagues. She was amused by the sight, and carefully hid her guilty smile behind her collar.

Ondolemar was as pale as the plains near Winterhold, he looked like he had not rested in a decade. He hadn't taken the Alto wine well. Malreith didn't look much better, even though she had a greater tolerance for the strong beverage than most Altmer. But it was fine, she wouldn't be much of a nuisance this way. Neither of them would, for that matter.

Less than an hour after leaving Morthal they came across two staircases that led to the outer ruins of Labyrinthian. Malreith attached the horse's reins to a low tree branch nearby and unequally divided the luggage carried between her and one unfortunate soldier.

The area around Labyrinthian started closer to Morthal than the maps in the Embassy had shown. For whatever reason the gigantic exterior around the ancient ruins had not been documented. Elenwen knew Labyrinthian had an extensive exterior, but she had not expected it to be this massive. She vowed to hire a good cartographer once she returned. To start with, there were stairs everywhere. They led up to seemingly useless plateaus, down to mysterious tombs and to the other side of the mountains, where one could enter the area from Whiterun. There were pillars scattered all around them with ominous eagle heads on top of them- at least, Elenwen assumed the decorations represented eagles. Babaric as the Nords were, they knew how to create an atmosphere.

They had not even walked fifty strides into the ruins when a frost troll charged at them from the side. Elenwen prepared to launch a firebolt at the beast, but two out of their three soldiers already had started attacking it with flames and bound swords. The third soldier awkwardly lingered behind, unable to help while carrying two of Malreith's knapsacks. It didn't matter, the troll didn't stand a chance. Blood was spilled and the beast was killed within seconds.

"Malreith, we're not on an alchemy excursion, for Anu's sake," Ondolemar hissed to Malreith, who had knelt down next to the troll's corpse and carefully scraped the animal's subcutaneous fat into a small jar. Elenwen didn't look at him, but she knew he wasn't angry, she almost heard the endeared smile in his voice.

So long for the peace and quiet of two hungover Thalmor.

Walking around the outer ruins was dangerous, Elenwen now understood why caravans would prefer a longer route over defying the many beasts on Labyrinths exterior. One couldn't see far, because the ravaged stone arcs and walls were close together and inhibited any kind of overview over the area. Trolls, saber tooth cats and even ice wraiths could hide under every ledge, behind every pillar. They encountered three more frost trolls on their way to Labyrinthian's entrance, after which they continued their way to the entrance in peace, but Elenwen nevertheless kept the feeling that something ominous was looming over the small group, as if their every movement was being carefully observed. It was rather unnerving.

No matter how incoherrent the old ruins seemed, how the pillars and walls seemed to stick out of their fundament like rotten teeth in a giant's jaw, the enormous entrance to the ruins of the abandoned city of Bromjunaar seemed eternal, to some extent, it was so deeply eroded into the side of the mountain that it seemed that it had been there since before the beginning of Meri memory.

Elenwen knew this couldn't be true, the internal portion of the ruins had been tampered with in the First Era, earning the location its name, so there was no such thing as an ever-present Labyrinthian, but yet… the air she breathed held the quivering memories of ancient beings. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was aware they had not been men or Mer. And yes, she knew about the ancient Dragon Cult. The Nords truly were a barbaric race, and if anything their history and ancient loyalty to dragons evoked the current dragon crisis, as far as she was concerned. Or not. The Aldmeri Dominion was completely in the dark about that matter. She hadn't been able to update their files on it for months.

Unsurprisingly, the door had been opened before. The enormous door was ever so slightly ajar, and a possibly iron ring about the width of one's hand had been attached to it, serving as some sort of obsolete knocker.

Elenwen swallowed thickly. Someone had entered Labyrinthian recently, and it couldn't possibly be one of the Khajiiti trading caravans. The Dominion's Khajiiti sleeper agent Ri'saad kept her posted on every location that he send his caravans through, and Labyrinthian had been avoided for a while now. The only conclusion she could draw was that Estormo had successfully reached Labyrinthian… Or someone else had. Maybe before him, maybe after him. Both options filled her with an equal amount of dread.

The fact that someone could have entered before him means that they probably had taken what he was looking for, causing Estormo to fail his mission, and maybe even indirectly causing him to bear the guilt of Ancano's death. Maybe he deserted the Thalmor force because of that, and by Oblivion, that was a serious crime within the Aldmeri Dominion. Should the Thalmor force ever hunt him down, they would be allowed, if not obliged to execute him in the most gruesome way they could imagine...

 _Don't. Think. About. It._

Then maybe the other option was a tad more positive, that someone came in after Estormo and… No, that option was just as bad. Never mind.

Elenwen realized the inevitability of either option as she pushed the door open and the light streamed into the dark abyss beyond, casting their shadows on the floor into long, deformed behemoths. There was no use in imagining the different scenarios. They had to enter Labyrinthian and find out.

The first room was large, and mostly empty. Burial urns laid all over the floor and tables on the sides of the room, it was as if someone had hastily searched them and thrown them away once they were done with it. The soldiers actually picked some of them up to search for contents, but besides the ashes of an old civilization, there was nothing in them.

There were so much more rooms after that, divided by large, iron doors. The rooms varied in size from an inn's bedroom to six times the size of the Blue Palace in Solitude. Most remarkably, there were skeletons everywhere. They had been torn apart into loose bones by whosoever had entered before them. There was even an enormous dragon skeleton in one of the larger rooms. Elenwen had to pry Malreith, who attempted to slice some bone from it with a sharp dagger, away from it.

And then there were traps. The Ancient Nords appeared to be very serious about no strangers entering their city. There were tripwires, falling gates and hidden pressure plates. There were even signs that some had set them off rather recently, since some tripwires were snapped and some gravity-based traps with rocks and hammers hung motionless from the ceiling.

The most remarkable feature to Labyrinthian was however that it was quiet, almost eerily so. There were no creatures roaming the halls like on the exterior. Ondolemar would point to a decaying troll's corpse or a pile of ashes of indiscernible origin on the floor, but there was no life or undead parody of life to be found anywhere, just the corpses in various states of decomposition they found along the way into the depths of Labyrinthian, akin to some twisted scavenger hunt.

The deeper they got into the ruins, the dryer the air got. After the first few areas, there were still signs of small streams gushing from between rocks, or small patches of mushrooms, much to Malreith's pleasure. The former apothecary took her potions very seriously.

By the point they reached a wildly decorated, iron door, Elenwen had lost all perception of time. It could be that they had spent less than an hour in here, or they could have been wandering for more than five hours. She didn't feel fatigued, so they couldn't have been down there for too long. That, and the ever-present fear for Estormo's life pumping through her veins kept her alert.

"It all looks so… abandoned," one of the soldiers commented as they pushed the door open. "This room looks like it should be housing something important."

"That's why the more civilized individuals choose to refer to this piace as the abandoned city of Bromjunaar," Ondolemar grunted through clenched teeth. He was nervous. That was very logical. Was there anyone in their group who didn't seem on edge?

The room had a complicated interior, much like the exterior portion of Labyrinthian, there were stairs everywhere, most of them led up to the same walkways down the middle of the room. Finding the exit was going to be quite the task.

"Do you hear that?" Malreith asked, gesturing her head towards the plateaus in the center of the room as they walked there cautiously. The whole room seemed to hum with a very low-pitched sound, it seemed to originate from a few glowing piles of ashes.

Elenwen nodded. "Yes. That's magicka residue. That happens when a large enchantment or other trapped source of magicka is broken. The magicka lingers around the room. I'd advice to tread carefully, since there can always be dense concentrations of magicka somewhere."

"Why does that happen?" Malreith asked with a glance at Ondolemar.

"The magicka has to go somewhere, it can't simply disappear," he said, "For that exact same reason, you cannot touch a body that has been killed with shock spells for quite some time afterwards. Magicka lingers. It just… happens."

"And you would have been aware of that if you had been schooled in the arcane arts beyond novice level," Elenwen snapped at her, incredibly agitated with her questions, even though they were reasonable. Malreith gave her a very disdainful look and Ondolemar even had the nerve to go against her.

"That's a bit much, First Emissary," he said without looking at her. He was right, she had no right to lash out at the Second Emissary over something this trivial, but by Auri-El, she would never admit that.

"Commander Ondolemar, please refrain from correcting me or I'll be forced to dispatch you back to the Reach," she said. No reaction. Very well.

At the very back of the room they found yet another pair of stairs that led to yet another door. Elenwen was starting to grow very, very tired of both.

Malreith tried to push the door open but didn't succeed. "It's jamming. I cannot…"

A male soldier immediately gave a powerful kick against the door, which gave in. It earned him a content nod from Malreith, but that didn't last long. As soon as the door flung open, a powerful, rancid stench hit them in their faces. It was unbearable.

Ondolemar turned his head away and stepped backwards forcefully, nearly stumbling in the process. One soldier involuntarily bent over and made retching noises. Elenwen covered her nose and mouth with the high collar of her hoodless Thalmor robes and took quick, superficial breaths.

After a while that seemed like an eternity, she got desensitized to the smell and lowered her collar. "Is everyone alright?"

A few weak nods left and right, but the one female soldier in their company had turned very pale and silent. Elenwen instructed Malreith to keep an eye on her, the poor thing probably never went on any kind of expedition before, let alone an expedition into one of the most dangerous locations in this wretched country. Above all, she really felt like turning pale and silent herself, because the source of the stench could be…

 _Don't. Think. About. It._

They walked into the dark hallway behind the door. Elenwen tried to take a torch from the wall in order to light their path, but they were sturdily attached to the wall. And how did these torches remain lit anyway?

Ondolemar cast a ball of light to illuminate the hallway… and the group almost burst out laughing with relief. A dead skeever laid on the floor belly-up, completely dehydrated and almost mummified by the dry environment, a large cut across its chest and neck. That was the source of the stench.

Elenwen was relieved, to say the least. She didn't know what she had expected to lie here, but a dead skeever was probably the most positive option. A smile slowly curled the corners of her mouth. Malreith snickered softly and Ondolemar confidently continued his way down the hallway.

But as the ball of light cast by the Thalmor commander travelled farther down the hallway and when her eyes got used to the light so she could see just outside of the illuminated area, she gasped for air and the smile melted away from her face rapidly.

She grabbed hold of Ondolemar's arm tightly, digging her gloved fingers deep in his flesh, to keep her balance. He uttered an indignant 'hey', then followed her glance and forcefully inhaled through his nose.

"Is there something wrong?" Malreith had lingered behind to take care of the female soldier, unaware of the situation that had unfurled a few strides in front of her. Then she also fell silent.

Everything had fallen silent, it seemed, like Nirn had frozen over. Elenwen felt how her fingers and face went numb. It was as if she looked down on herself walking forward, to the body lying motionless on the ground, just outside of the circle of light.

No.

The body was lying in fetal position. It was almost uncovered except for its undergarment, showing how it was completely emaciated by dehydration, the joints and ribs stuck out and the greying skin was pulled over it so tightly it seemed like it could burst at any second. A few deep cuts ran over the unfortunate person's sides, chest and legs.

No.

Elenwen knelt next to the body. Its light hair had a typical Altmeri haircut, with one side of the skull shaven. The long ears had been nibbled at by skeevers. She carefully grabbed the hair at the unshaven part of the head to turn it. The head turned with a sickening crackle.

No.

The Altmer's nose and lips had also been torn partially by the same skeevers, practically rendering the male unrecognizable, but his eyes were half open and undamaged, only dried out completely.

But his eyes were green.

His eyes were green.

No. This couldn't be real. No.

As Elenwen spoke up, her voice was low and soft, yet it felt like it made the ruins shake on their fundament.

"It's him."

It went so quick after that. Malreith opened up her knapsacks and took out large pieces of linen that she used to wrap around Estormo's corpse with cold professionalism, then she lifted it up together with a male soldier. The female soldier had apparently fainted somewhere in the process, and she was crying now, and being consoled by the other male soldier.

And Elenwen was numb. She didn't do anything, she didn't feel anything. She just meekly watched when Estormo's body was being wrapped up and carried away.

She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and her senses started to come back to life again.

"We should leave."

She ever so slowly looked up, only to find Ondolemar looking at her with more emotion in his eyes than she'd ever seen before. At that point, she envied Malreith more than ever. She would give everything to be held in the arms of the Thalmor commander at this moment, to just be alone with him and cry on his shoulder, not because of any romantical feelings but because she wanted to let go of the professional facade and be comforted, just for once in her life.

But she couldn't. Of course she couldn't. She was Elenwen, first Emissary to the Aldmeri Dominion in Skyrim. And she had a corpse to transport all the way back to Solitude.

So she did as asked.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Super long chapter! Thank you SO much for the lovely reviews!_

 _What do you warn for when you describe a dead body that has been mutilated by scavengers? Idk, but some people are sensitive to it (which I completely understand) so I put up a warning. I think everyone who played through the College of Winterhold storyline knows who brought Estormo an agonizing death..._

 _I don't know if the format I used (lots of spacing in between lines etc.) conveys the feeling I tried to describe well? Let me know what you think about it!_  
 _This is DEFINITELY not the end of the fanfic by the way! Many more chapters are planned after this one. Hope you liked this chapter! :D_


	5. Torches

_Chapter five- Torches_

The warmth that radiated from the small fire that burned in the hearth would have been very enjoyable, if it weren't for the gaping void in Elenwen's chest that ripped all feeling from her skin. That was about the only thing she was painfully aware of, the rest of her was just… numb. And for some reason, that was the only thing that bothered her. She didn't feel the expected agonizing grief, she didn't even feel tears burning straight through her facade. She felt nothing. No emotions, no sensations. Nothing.

She had discarded her gloves and held her hands up to the flames in a desperate attempt to warm her frigid fingers, so close that she almost burned the skin on her palms.

She wanted to think the pain didn't register, but as she moved her hands even closer to the fire, she instinctively pulled them back and rapidly waved them in order to relieve the pain. Too close.

A single knock on the door caught her attention and she looked up.

"Come in." The sound of her own voice being used again after hours of silence made her physically cringe. With no context provided, it made her sound like she was on the verge of tears.

The wooden door of the creaked open and the young female soldier peered through the gap.

"First Emissary. Excuse me for interrupting, but-"

"Get to the point," Elenwen said without looking up.

"When are we heading out tomorrow? I need to know since-"

"At dawn. We're leaving this place as soon as possible," Elenwen interrupted again. "Why do you bother me with this? Go ask Malreith, or even Ondolemar, but I believe I have stated very clearly that I do not wish to be disturbed."

The strict tone in Elenwen's voice made the soldier lower her head and nod. "I apologize, Emissary, but I could not find either of them. Believe me when I say I would not dare disturb you at this time if it weren't absolutely necessary."

"You couldn't- have you checked the bedrooms?" Elenwen asked sharply.

The soldier nodded nervously. "Yes, definitely. Nobody was there."

Elenwen rose to her feet. The female soldier stepped back, afraid of whatever undeserved punishment she expected. But Elenwen walked past her, through the doorway, and went to check the other bedrooms. The soldier had been right, they were empty. Then where were the other two Thalmor?

Elenwen made her way through the inn's living room, startling the single soldier positioned there that had slept in during his guard duty, yet lucky for him, the First Emissary didn't pay any attention to him.

Immediately after rushing through the front door, her agitated state of mind was relieved a bit.

Malreith sat just outside the inn's porch, several torches and a carriage surrounding her. She was silently grinding some ingredients with a mortar, her face obscured by the hood of her dark Thalmor robes. Ondolemar was nowhere to be seen, thank Auri-El.

"Second Emissary," Elenwen said as a greeting while sitting down on the wooden bench next to her colleague. Malreith gave an approving nod.

"How did you acquire that?" Elenwen nodded to the carriage. It was loaded, but she couldn't quite tell what load it carried.

"Ondolemar questioned a local. Accused him of worshipping a certain heretic violation to our pantheon. The resident was more than happy to give up his carriage in order to have the charges be dropped." The Second Emissary gave a wicked chuckle.

"Speaking of Ondolemar, where is he?" Elenwen inquired, trying to appear like she was casually informing.

"He's making his way around town, asking if anyone saw the two soldiers that Estormo arrived here with. He took that other male soldier, Nindir or whatever he's called." Malreith had barely looked up from her mortar during the conversation, but now she cast a quick glance to the First Emissary. "Why are you so curious, if I may ask?"

"You bothered to learn the names of the soldiers?", Elenwen retorted, deliberately ignoring Malreith's last question.

The other Altmeri woman shrugged. "Ondolemar does. He values every single one of those under his command, so he's interested in them. At least, he pretends to be, and very convincingly so."

"Preposterous," Elenwen scoffed haughtily, "We are not supposed to get friendly with our guards, it only causes conflicts of interest, should a situation arise in which they are forced to sacrifice themselves in order to save us."

"I agree on that," Malreith said as she started to pour the pulverized contents of the mortar into a blue, unlabeled bottle. "But Ondolemar doesn't. He has rather unconventional ideas on matters like that."

"Do you suspect that his unconventionality is going to compromise the Aldmeri Dominion at some point?", Elenwen asked sharply.

Malreith shook her head slowly and uttered a disapproving, guttural sound. "Definitely not. He muses, he ponders, but he doesn't act upon those musings."

Elenwen leaned in and stared at the Second Emissary with a piercing glance. Malreith slowly stopped her potion brewing activities and looked up, the same smug, slightly provocative look on her face as always. By Auri-El, Elenwen could swear at that moment that she wanted nothing more than to forcibly slap that look right off of her face.

"You are not defending the Commander simply because you want to sleep with him, I hope?"

Malreith tilted her head in disbelief at her superior's remark, then gave a wry smile. "My dear First Emissary, you know just as well as I do that biased defense would benefit neither of us. Besides, him and I share the same passion for the cause of the Dominion."

At that point, their interlocution fell silent and Elenwen bitterly turned her gaze toward the night sky, silently thinking of a way to reprimand the somewhat younger elf. Deep inside, she knew Malreith wasn't doing anything wrong, but her behaviour was just so inexplicably obnoxious to Elewen that the latter was simply straining to look for reasons to reprimand her subordinate. She was just about to speak up again, when Malreith did.

"It sure is a lot more lonesome than we expected, right?"

"What?," Elenwen snapped, annoyed by the disturbance of the lecture she planned to give her colleague. "What is lonesome?"

Malreith gestured widely. "This. Our occupation. Being an Emissary in this godsforsaken cesspool of heresy and inferiority."

Elenwen nodded, still staring at the sky. It was a clear, cold night, and the green curtains of the aurora flashed brightly around the millions of stars. She was trying the best she could to conceal the weird relief she felt from finally hearing that from another Emissary.

"Yes, but it sure is less demanding than being interrogator," she finally managed to say.

"That's true… But nothing can hold a candle to being an apothecary in Alinor during riots against the Thalmor." Malreith grinned emptily, her eyes obscured by the grim shadows her hood cast on her face. Elenwen knew they were as emotionless as ever, Malreith wasn't the type to dwell on the horrors of the past for very long.

The Second Emissary continued even without the other's approval. "In the beginning you let it get to you. Every death that occurs because you or the healers failed to care for whosoever was injured feels akin to being stabbed in the stomach. Yet after a while you get… desensitized to suffering." Malreith paused to pick at the pounder of her mortar. "That's what made the dirtier jobs in the Thalmor force easier to handle for me. When you get to a relatively peaceful occupation like this, when your days aren't filled with kicking heretic Nords in the face, you only really start to realize how lonely you have been since leaving the Isles. But Elenwen…"

The informal use of her first name made Elenwen, who had cautiously paid attention, look at her colleague.

"I don't want you to assume I yearn for Ondolemar and thus decided to pursue him, like a promiscuous half-blood," Malreith said with an alarming amount of expression in her face. "That is not true. Him and me, we really like eachother, we might even plan on settling down eventually. If we act like infatuated adolescents because of that, so be it. By Oblivion, you just confirmed you know how lonely our position is, you of all people should not be rejecting this."

Elenwen nodded, more and more starting to realize she was growing extremely envious of the situation Malreith was in. She had lost all motivation to lecture the other, so she rose from the bench.

"I'm heading for my room. We're leaving at dawn tomorrow."

Malreith nodded. "Please send one of the soldiers out. The torches have to be looked after."

"Why is that?" Elenwen asked while making her way to the door.

"To keep the spiders and other scavengers away," Malreith dryly stated, then nodded at the carriage parked just inside the circle of light that the torches cast. "What do you think is on that? The innkeeper wouldn't let us bring it in. The corpse is already horribly mutilated as is, we can't send a couple of gnawed bones back to the Isles. Although that would be more practical, since the flesh couldn't-"

"Good night, Second Emissary," Elenwen interrupted and made her way through the door. She hadn't known that Estormo's body was on the carriage, otherwise she wouldn't have sat next to Malreith so casually.

This made their entire conversation seem rather pathetic. She had worried about Malreith pursuing another Thalmor operative, while the corpse of a young, very promising agent was lying mere strides away from them. It was apalling that she had argued about something so trivial in front of the body of someone she cared about, even if it had been ignorantly.

She didn't sleep that night. She stayed up in an almost catatonic state, silently distancing herself from any emotions she would feel about Estormo's death. At that moment, she still didn't feel anything but that horrendous envy, she still hadn't even started to process the fact that Estormo was gone, yet she feared that those dreaded emotions might surface on an extremely inconvenient moment.

What would be the next step?

It was perfectly clear that someone involved with the College of Winterhold was out for the Thalmor, or more likely, for the weird projects of Ancano that he had been so utterly obsessed with. Elenwen had provided him with full authorization for his actions, despite never knowing exactly what he was up to. It was one of the biggest mistakes she could ever imagine making. He was directly responsible for Estormo's death.

Now officially speaking, Ancano had been a subordinate to Savos Aren, the Arch Mage of Winterhold, but the last letter from the College had stated that he had also been killed in the conflict there. Everybody who could know something about the events at the College had been killed. Except for…

Elenwen frowned. Except for their undercover agents there. They had a number of undercover agents at the College, and at least one of them was bound to know more. A recent event came to mind almost immediately, two of their undercover female Altmer agents stationed there had not exactly been on good terms with each other. And that, in turn, had something to do with Ancano. Surely, the Thalmor advisor had been very good looking, even for the extremely high aesthetical standards that the superiorly bred Altmer set, but still, they acted like bunch of adolescents.

Those two Elves had been deep undercover there, for Auri-El's sake, and they were distracted from their extremely important duty by unsolved, trivial personal issues. This actually seemed to happen more often in Altmeri females born on the Isles that had been stationed in Skyrim for a longer time. Practically, Elenwen herself fit into that category, yet she liked to think she did not display the associated behaviour at all.

Sometimes, Elenwen felt like the only Thalmor operative with a functioning brain and the capability to not let her emotions interfere with her professionalism. Lately, however, she hadn't been too sure of that.

* * *

 **Author's note:** _It's been a while since the last chapter update and I apologize for that! University is really jealous of my free time and thus likes to be demanding, it takes priority over writing... Oh well. I'll try and be more timely with the next update. Cheers!_


	6. But we do need the Stormcloaks

Chapter 6- But we do need the Stormcloaks

 _First Emissary,_

 _You have to believe this one when he says that the person responsible for Ancano's death left the College mere hours after receiving the title of Arch Mage. No one knew that particular man well. This one already told you that he didn't trust the stranger, and that he even attempted to… get him out of the way by sending him to test some faulty scrolls that this one made specifically for that purpose. He was more skilled than expected, and returned with a disgruntled expression and only two of the ten scrolls._

 _The stranger appointed J'zargo as the new Arch Mage before he left, with no indication if this would be permanent or temporary. This one is very pleased with the title, and you should be too, dear Emissary, since you now have a great first hand source of information about the college who will not fight with a colleague about earning the affections of a superior._

 _The stranger could be a major problem in the future. This one thinks he might be affiliated with the Stormcloaks, since he is a Nord and wore an Amulet of Talos._

 _J'zargo_

Elenwen lowered the letter onto her desk and repressed the urge to roll her eyes. It was good to have a somewhat more professional person as a source at the College. She had tried to contact her two undercover agents Nirya and Faralda, and only Faralda had replied. The reply had been incoherent though, so Elenwen had taken action that she had hoped to never take: she contacted her Khajiiti agent at the College. J'zargo had come to work for the Thalmor years ago, just like almost every Khajiit that roamed the continent of Tamriel. It had something to do with the orientation of the moons or what not. Anyhow, it was fortunate to be able to count the cats as their allies, even though they didn't exactly have a reputation of being reliable.

Everything was better than the personal drama that had unfolded between the two actual Thalmor agents. J'zargo had informed her in earlier correspondence that Nirya had not taken Ancano's death well and that he had not seen her around in a while. Faralda acted like it didn't impact her a lot, but she would completely lose her temper over the smallest inconveniences.

So, Elenwen had to count on the Khajiit, there was no other option.

She had been back in Haafingar for about a month now. She had ordered that Estormo's body be transported back to the Summerset Isles by ship. Ruthhwen had joined the convoy. No matter how much Elenwen had hated the young elf, she felt horribly guilty when she saw her again, when she had visited Ruthhwen's residence in Solitude to offer her condolences.

Ruthhwen had turned into naught but an empty shell of the spoiled, yet vibrant, young Altmer she had been. Her eyes were dull and puffy, and her face was gaunt and almost grey with misery. Luckily for her, a traditional Altmeri funeral didn't gather a large crowd, Altmer didn't like being reminded of their own mortality.

Come to think of it, Elenwen didn't like that either, but for entirely different reasons than the majority of the ultra-conservative high families on the Isles.

But it was all over now, the part that had weighed down on her shoulders the most had been taken care of, thank Auri-El. Her mind numbing guilt was starting to subside. She also stopped dreaming about the young agent every other night.

Her mind was cleared of emotion once again, which would be good, if it weren't for the fearful writhing in gut that told her that the stranger was going to be a nuisance, to say the least. The fact that he was properly affiliated with the Stormcloaks didn't ease her feelings.

She kept interaction with Ulfric to a minimum. But this, this was something else. If the stranger was indeed affiliated with the Stormcloaks, Elenwen ought to send out word to Windhelm about her concerns. Ulfric couldn't directly assassinate the stranger, of course not, but he could send him on a… dangerous mission. A mission that could never be completed. By Oblivion, she could order Ulfric to send the stranger into some old Nordic ruins, like Korvanjund or even…

No, he had already been there, and by the Eight, he survived it.

Elenwen swallowed thickly. If the stranger was responsible for both Ancano's and Estormo's death, that meant that he was the one who cleared out Labyrinthian before the expedition got there. If that was true, then the problem was a lot, lot bigger than she had anticipated. Even if he had not been on his own, an undead dragon priest had presumably been slain in those ruins, that was a task that couldn't even be completed by a village of talented warriors.

She felt very, very uneasy suddenly. The stranger was out for the Thalmor. The Embassy had very few soldiers and mages present at that moment. That, along with the numerous dragon attacks that had been reported from the larger cities and by their patrolling forces, called for action.

"Brelas," she called out. Within mere seconds, the wood elf showed up at the door of her office.

"Yes, First Emissary?", she asked, nervously eyeing her superior.

Elenwen sighed. "Get Rulindil and Malreith in here and make sure nobody listens at the door. That includes you. Just inform them that I want to see them and do not return to this room."

Brelas nodded quickly. "Yes, Emissary."

A few minutes later, her two subordinates arrived at her doorstep. Rulindil actually had the presence of mind to close the door behind him after entering.

"I have some important matters to discuss," Elenwen said, rising to her feet. "Confidential matters."

"If this is another expedition," Rulindil said quickly and nervously, "No, I'm not joining. I think the both of you are perfectly capable to join it, yes. Yes, you are almost veterans when it comes to exped-"

"Rulindil, please recompose yourself," Elenwen said, averting her eyes, although she could understand his concern. He had witnessed how five well-trained Thalmor agents had left somewhat optimistically, and seen them return completely burnt out, transporting the corpse of an agent they had expected to find alive. Why, looking back, nobody besides Elenwen had expected to retrieve him alive, but that was besides the point. Anyhow, being called into another meeting after an incident like that wouldn't have excited an enthusiastic response from her either.

"We are not organizing another expedition. We are doing the opposite. I want all Thalmor agents that aren't undercover at this moment from the adjacent holds present at the Embassy. In fact, I'll have a letter sent out to all holds inviting any Thalmor force member to come into the Embassy, if they wish to."

This seemed to amuse Malreith. "How are you planning to do so? It will certainly draw a lot of attention, which will make the Embassy a target for whatever you are worrying about."

"If you would have let me finish, I'd have explained it," Elenwen said sharply. "It will not draw a lot of attention if we disguise it as another reception. And should it still draw attention from those who are out for us, then we will be with sufficient numbers to eliminate them."

The two other Emissaries nodded lightly, they did not seem convinced in the slightest.

"It seems a tad counterproductive," Rulindil said. "The Embassy would be the main target, that is, _if anyone_ is out for us, like you imply."

Elenwen leaned back against her heavy wooden desk and sighed. "Besides dragons? Someone is out for us. And they should be eliminated easily if we gather the entire Thalmor force in this building and wait for them…" She couldn't suppress an evil smile. "In fact, we wouldn't have to worry about them hearing about the reception. Rulindil, invite some of our associates too. In fact, call in some high mages from Alinor. Make sure the word gets spread."

She turned around as Rulindil left the room, taking his halo of unsatisfied anger with him. Malreith didn't comprehend Elenwen's gesture, or more likely, she deliberately ignored it, because the second Emissary stayed in the room.

"Malreith, when I choose to turn my back towards you, it means I intend to end the conversation," Elenwen said without turning around.

Malreith gave a deep chuckle. "I'm aware of that. _I_ didn't intend to end the conversation just yet, that is why I haven't left the room."

Elenwen sighed and reluctantly turned around to face the second Emissary. She was met with the expected arrogant smirk.

"We have so many crises happening at the exact same time, yet you seem to be focusing exclusively on that pesky stranger here, from whose existence you have only learned through a letter from a Khajiiti agent and allegedly through the death of a Thalmor. You are aware that this not without risk, I hope? "

The first Emissary leaned her hands on the desk and slightly lowered her head. "Yes. I am. Yet, this is something we have to face. If we do not, it could mean that the Thalmor force in Skyrim would be decimated by this stranger. We need not worry about the Stormcloaks just yet, we could contact Ulfric as soon as they become as much as a nuisance, but the stranger doesn't know that. He is affiliated with the Stormcloaks, and as far as we are concerned he means to serve them, to do everything he has to in order to be able to glorify… the enormous insult to our religion that is called Talos." She almost spat the hated name out. "We cannot let that happen. We are going to reign over all of Tamriel and we are not going to be stopped by this inferior maggot."

She started pacing across the room, her chest whirling with emotion, her eyes flashing with pure fanaticism. "We are the Altmer. We naturally deserve to reign them. We…"

She caught the ever so sightly disapproving look of Malreith in the corner of her eyes and turned around to face her.

"You are only worried about the Embassy, about your own well-being," she hissed to the somewhat younger elf.. "We are dealing with something far more grave that you can imagine. We indirectly created the Stormcloaks. If this stranger acts fully convinced that siding with them means destroying us…"

She blinked slowly and shook her head at the realization. "That means we could have created our own demise."

Malreith had silently waited until Elenwen had finished her lengthy monologue, only then she spoke up. "It almost seems as if you are giving up the belief that Altmer are superior, by the way you suggest that one man could mean the downfall of the Thalmor in Skyrim."

Elenwen shook her head and gritted her teeth. This subject always brought her an immense feeling of iniquity, because maybe, very deep in the silenced crypts of her subconscious, she did feel that way. "That is not what I am saying."

"Yet that is what you mean, isn't it?", Malreith retorted, folding her arms. Elenwen suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. After Ondolemar had returned to the reach the Second Emissary had given everyone in the Embassy a good impression of Rulindil's general attitude. Elenwen couldn't be too bothered by it at first, but now, more than a month later, the other stubbornly kept it up, which was extremely agitating. Malreith had already aged past her first century, and she barely acted like half her age right now.

 _Maybe I should have brought Rulindil on the expedition after all._

"What I am saying is that only an opponent _we_ created could be our demise," Elenwen snapped, "since it would be meticulously created, well thought out and literally our equal. This is especially true for an opponent that is not aware that we created them."

"Well, at least Ulfric is aware of that," Malreith chuckled. "Very much so. Elenwen, you were the one who broke him, who bent him to our will, to create a movement to rival the Imperials. You should be the one to tell him to cease the Stormcloaks' activities for the time being."

"The Stormcloaks aren't the problem inherently," Elenwen said, and she felt how a vein in her temple started to pulse with anger, "It's the stranger. No, no, we do need the Stormcloaks. We just do not need the stranger, he is interfering with our plans."

Malreith just shook her head. "I don't follow you anymore, Elenwen. I just hope you know what you are starting here."

She then turned around and started to pace towards the door. She briefly stopped in her tracks when she walked through the door opening. "I hope your reception will have fine brandy."

Then the door closed behind her.

Elenwen rubbed one hand across her face and uttered an extremely indignant grunt. This plan of hers, it was going to be hard. And yet, it was going to be worth it. At least, she sincerely hoped so.

That, and she hoped that the reception _wouldn't_ have fine brandy.

* * *

 **A/N:** _For those who are not aware, in Skyrim, if you take all the documents from the chest in Elenwen's Solar during Diplomatic Immunity, it says that Ulfric Stormcloak is actually a Thalmor agent so yes, that's actual lore, not just a figment of my imagination. Also there's a tad too much dialogue in this chapter, I hope it's not obnoxious. And again, I done f'ed up with the time this took, hee hoo ha ha. I'm not going to make any more promises regarding time. What did you like about this chapter? What did you hate? What do you hope is going to happen next? Please tell me! Hope you enjoyed this chapter._


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